Prevention and Treatment of Vitamin A Deficiency in Masked Palm Civet Farming

Vitamin A deficiency is a nutritional disease caused by a lack of vitamin A, characterized by visual impairment, damaged epithelial integrity and poor bone formation.   Vitamin A deficiency (clinical symptoms): when breeding masked palm civets lack vitamin A, reproductive function is affected. Females come into estrus late and often fail to conceive, sometimes resulting in miscarriage. Males show reduced activity, diminished sexual function and an inability to mate and reproduce normally. Young masked palm civets lacking vitamin A develop digestive disorders, diarrhea, progressive emaciation and general weakness, and are susceptible to canine distemper and parvovirus disease; some may develop poor brain development, ataxia, and the typical symptoms of dry eye, including dull gaze, corneal opacity and night blindness, and some progress to serous or purulent conjunctivitis. (Clinical diagnosis) Typical vitamin A deficiency can be given a preliminary diagnosis based on the history and clinical symptoms. Mild cases are harder to diagnose; confirmation requires reference to the characteristics of the pathological lesions, the vitamin A content in plasma and liver, and a careful analysis of the diet. 

Prevention and treatment of vitamin A deficiency: when formulating the diet, provide the masked palm civet group with sufficient vitamin A; the appropriate vitamin A supply is 100 units per kg body weight per day. During the breeding period, females should be given 5 times the minimum requirement of vitamin A. Treatment of affected masked palm civets is mainly oral vitamin A capsules, 400 units per kg body weight per day, once a day for 10 consecutive days. Cod liver oil can also be given, 0.2—0.3 ml per kg body weight per day, orally for 7—10 consecutive days. To help the digestion and absorption of vitamin A, add an appropriate amount of fat to the feed. Vitamin A preparations must not be used in excess, otherwise vitamin A poisoning is easily caused.